


Through my lenses, I see into your hearts

by QueenC



Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV)
Genre: Budding Love, ChalexWeek2020, Charlie and Alex are oblivious, Friendship, M/M, Mild Angst, POV Outsider, Tyler is very observant, just a tense scene, not really - Freeform, winter break missing scenes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:21:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25577974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenC/pseuds/QueenC
Summary: Tyler Down has always excelled at reading others. First as a defensive measure, then as a way to care for the important people in his life. And he surely counted Alex and Charlie as 'important people in his life'.So he starts paying closer attention.Chalex Week 2020, day 2:outsider's POV
Relationships: Charlie St. George/Alex Standall, Tyler Down & Alex Standall, Tyler Down & Charlie St. George
Comments: 29
Kudos: 85
Collections: Chalex Week 2020





	Through my lenses, I see into your hearts

**Author's Note:**

> Day 2, here we are! I've recently developed a fixation on Tyler/Alex/Charlie's friendship during the winter break, and why the hell we don't have any on-screen scenes of it, so this story is in large parts self-indulgent af. But I'd also like to thank Ricoka for the ultimate push on my choosing Tyler for my outsider's POV. I was thinking of going for Zach, but after this one day we traded views about Tyler's character development ever since S01, I was completely sold on Tyler Down, no takesies backsies. Here's what came out of it.

Tyler liked to take pride in the fact that, after everything he went through, he was now able to come up with a list of things he liked about himself. It was a short list, yes — but for someone who at some point could fill a book only with flaws and still come up short on virtues, he thought he was doing pretty well. 

He could easily say that Tyler's favorite thing about Tyler was his mindfulness. He was told on more than one occasion that this was not a quality per se, but he guessed it only made sense if you had an eye for reading into the situations, and honestly, most people didn't. So Tyler would just smile and nod, letting it slide, inwardly sorry for whoever believed that _seeing people_ wasn't a virtue. 

Everybody deserved to be seen. Not merely looked at, but seen. Tyler knew this better than anyone else — he'd been invisible for such a long time. Sometimes he wondered if this is why he could read people so well. You get used to watching when no one is looking your way.

It had always been second nature for him to see into people, through the facade they put up every day just to get by. Only before he used to do it as a means to keep his head afloat, to survive through high school by knowing everyone's everything. Now he did it out of love. Of concern. Of caring for the people who had gone the extra mile to help him. 

Alex had helped him without even being aware of it. Even before they became close, Tyler could see the kindness in him, disguised under layers of defensive sarcasm and carefully crafted nonchalance. He built his walls so high it was really hard to get a peak from the other side — but Tyler had seen it. When he stepped up for him, against Monty, against his own friends, in a past where Tyler was just a creepy stalker, and it was so easy to hate him and shut him off. But Alex had never done it. So you see why for Tyler it was always hard to buy into his cold facade. He'd seen underneath it even when they weren't friends yet.

Charlie, on the other hand, had consciously, willingly chosen to help him. He went out of his way to lend Tyler a hand, and while one could argue that he had done nothing but the decent thing, decency was not a trait easily found on a lot of the football guys at Liberty. Tyler could tell he was different. He had come as a nice surprise, a breath of fresh air — a chance for Tyler to be a little more hopeful about people.

He had no links with Tyler when he offered to back up his statement — if anything his loyalties laid with Monty. Tyler was a bit distrustful at first but he came to learn Charlie was genuinely just a nice guy. Unburdened. Untarnished. Willing to do the right thing. And by helping Tyler, he seemed to reclaim some peace of mind back to himself. It was easy, plain to see in his face. Charlie wore all of his emotions proudly, which was also something new to Tyler. He didn't bother with putting up a facade, ever. Tyler didn't even know this was possible until he met him. 

And Alex and Charlie together was a particular trip on itself. It amused Tyler he had seen it coming probably even before themselves did. But he had — on the small gestures, the lingering looks, the not-entirely-accidental touches. He had spent time enough with both of them, together and separately, not to be caught by surprise when they officially became a thing. 

Still, it amused him to date that it took them so long to be together. He loved his friends but God, they were so slow on the uptake. Tyler had caught up to something going on ever since winter break.

* * *

Alex was wary. Tyler could see it in his face, and not just because he was observant. He could tell Alex was not making a point of hiding his suspicious look. 

When Tyler followed his gaze, his eyes stopped on Charlie, who was obliviously waiting for their drinks at the counter on Monet's. 

“Why do you think he's doing this?” Alex asked abruptly. Tyler was mildly amused he didn't even have to prompt this one out of his friend. Alex must have been truly bothered. 

“Doing what exactly?” Tyler asked back with a frown. 

“This, this whole hanging with us thing, staying around... It's weird. He doesn't have to do it,” answered Alex.

“Can't he just like our company?” Tyler countered.

“Come on, Ty. Do you really believe what you're saying? I'm sure he's got better companies to spend his time with than us.” And here, Alex seemed to catch up to what he'd just said. He threw an apologetic look at Tyler, adding quickly, “I'm sorry, I didn't mean it to sound like that. I didn't mean it about you--”

“It's fine. I know what you meant, Alex,” reassured Tyler. “And I had these same thoughts at some point too. But to be honest I think he's just desperate for new friends. We know who he used to hang with, and I think it took a bigger toll on him than he lets on to learn what the people he was friends with were capable of,” Tyler eyed Charlie's back absently as he spoke. “He's going through a full anti-jock phase. It's actually fascinating to watch.”

“Yeah? What are we gonna do with him when he grows out of this phase?” Alex asked, skeptical.

“Do you remember this one time I told you you had no obligations of hanging out with me, and you said you didn't see it as a chore?” When Alex hesitantly nodded, Tyler added, “I think this is mostly how he feels. At first, I thought he only invited me to things to ease his mind. Maybe feel less guilty by association or something. But there's only so much you can endure to ease your conscience. And I tested it by putting him through _A Space Odyssey_ , 1968 version. With commentaries.”

“Oh my God, you're an awful person,” Alex looked at him, divided between shock and amusement. “Now I feel bad for him.”

“He actually enjoyed it. He added to the comments, if you can believe it,” informed Tyler. He let out a chuckle at Alex's skeptical expression. “Look, I get you. Took me some time to trust him too. But I really think he's just a nice guy who used to hang around the wrong people.” Tyler shrugged, unsure as to how to ease Alex's reservations against Charlie. “Who knows? Maybe we are the ones to actually be a good company to him.”

“Maybe,” conceded Alex, but Tyler could tell he still wasn't convinced. 

He understood Alex's wariness probably better than anyone else would — he knew what it was like to feel unwanted, undeserving, unworthy, and for the longest time, he thought he would never stop feeling that way. He also knew this was how Alex had been feeling lately. Despite his friend never reaching out with words, Tyler could see the changes in his demeanor. Ever since they'd grown closer, Alex had never been particularly cheerful, or confident, or happy. He'd always had a lot of anger and frustration inside himself. But it had grown darker ever since Bryce and everything else. Tyler supposed he wasn't the only one to see it.

But he found it extremely delicate to come up with ways to help, for he knew by personal experience that this was the kind of situation you had to admit needing the help in the first place. Tyler had been there, and he'd be the first to say that accepting you need someone else's aid was not an easy task. But when he had, his own mindset about himself started to change. Tyler could see it was Alex now who was in desperate need of a change of mindset. Having someone that seemed so judgment-free as Charlie around could do some good. Alex already did a lot of judging himself on his own.

The quarterback returned to the table with their drinks, handing Alex and Tyler their paper cups. “I didn't know if we were staying here, so I asked our drinks to go.”

“That's fine,” said Tyler, nodding his head in gratitude. “But I wouldn't mind staying indoors. It's really cold tonight.”

“You have a point there,” agreed Charlie, moving around the table to sit facing both boys. “I'm cool with hanging out here as well.”

“Why did you do it?” Asked Alex completely out of the blue, and Tyler had to wonder why Alex's mind seemed all over the place tonight. Charlie looked at him at a loss, startled, coffee mid-way to his lips. “The tape on Monty's locker. Why did you put it there?”

There was a slight undertone of accusation in his voice. Tyler shrank into his armchair, wishing he could be anywhere else but not present to this conversation. 

“Umm. I--” Charlie glanced at Tyler, looking for a hint on how to go about this situation but Tyler was sad to leave him wanting. He also had no idea what the procedure should be here. “I just wanted to help, I guess.”

“You didn't even know me. Or Jess. Monty was one of your closest friends. Do you realize nothing on this adds up?” Insisted Alex.

Charlie's expression darkened, and for a moment, Tyler wished Alex would just shut up. He preferred to steer away from conflict as most as he could. But he would be lying if he said he hadn't asked himself the same question on multiple occasions — except he would never be the one to confront Charlie about it. 

“It was not about you,” answered Charlie after a tense few seconds of silence. “You're right, I barely knew you. But I thought I knew Monty. And Bryce. They were the kind of people I used to look up to. So yeah, it was kind of a shock to come to terms with the fact that they were so fucked up,” Charlie explained, voice wavering at the end in distress. “Justin asked me to do it, and I didn't see why not. I was angry and disappointed, and to be honest, I didn't think it through. Didn't really consider what it could mean for me, realistically, to plant false evidence on an active criminal investigation.”

The silence that followed was heavy with a meaning that, Tyler hated to admit, was open to interpretation. He didn't dare to move. He felt like any minor disturbance could bring it all crashing down on top of them.

“So that means you regret having done it,” stated Alex, words forced out of his throat as if he was struggling to keep his emotions in.

“No,” denied Charlie vehemently. “With the knowledge I had, I couldn't have done any differently. I don't regret having done it. I just don't take pride in it.”

The next few seconds were like watching a staring contest, and it was all so charged with tension that for Tyler it felt like hours. It was made even more unnerving because he had no idea who was winning. 

But Alex backed down first. After what felt like a long time, his expression softened and he nodded his head, reclaiming his coffee from the table. “We've all done things we don't proud ourselves of at some point. Welcome to the club,” he lifted his cup in a mocking toast. “It's good to see you're not the perfect, flawless specimen you appear to be.”

Tyler let his breath return to normal again, still eyeing both his friends cautiously. Charlie, for once, was blank-faced, and that was a new look on him Tyler hadn't seen yet. But what surprised him more about this extremely uncomfortable exchange was that Alex's final words weren't half as sarcastic as they seemed to be. 

Alex meant them. After Charlie's admission, he visibly lowered his walls and allowed the younger boy to come closer. As if he couldn't trust Charlie before while he behaved so wholesomely. As if Charlie not being the perfect human being he appeared to be somehow made Alex more comfortable to bond with him. 

It should sound crazy but Tyler understood it. And he was admired that Alex had managed to reach deep enough inside Charlie to pull out his insecurities on such a delicate topic. Charlie was usually a brick wall of confidence but somehow Alex had seen through it. Which could only mean he had been looking very closely. Tyler knew Alex would deny it to his last breath, but Charlie had found a way to get under his skin.

After that, as unbelievable as it might sound, their friendship steered into a firm course over the winter break. Alex let aside his reservations towards Charlie, and Charlie seemed to have gotten rid of a huge weight from his shoulders. The three of them fell into a rhythm neither of them could have foreseen would work out so well.

They went on morning trips to the lake. They hit The Crestmont more times than they could count. They also arranged movie nights at their houses (“you are not picking the movie, Ty,” was Alex's only reservation), and it would often turn into sleepovers. Tyler felt very at ease around both boys. He never felt intimidated or judged, or a burden to any of them. Alex and Charlie made a point of showing he was not only welcomed but also wanted. It was an intoxicating feeling he wasn't used to experiencing. 

They went as far as allowing him to practice some new photography techniques on them. That is to say, Charlie gladly posed all the ways Tyler instructed him to while Alex sat brooding off-camera trying to escape Tyler's lenses. The highlight of the day was Charlie manhandling Alex into a duo picture, smile bright on his face as Alex let out an undignified squeal for being hauled on to his feet. Charlie spent the rest of the afternoon poking fun at Alex for coming out on camera looking like the human version of Grumpy Cat. 

And that picture was gold, indeed, and Tyler was fully on board with lightheartedly making fun of Alex for it, but once he got home again and proceeded to separate what was usable from what wasn't, he found it that that wasn't the most interesting picture he had taken that day. 

Okay, so maybe Tyler still had a habit of taking pictures of people while they were unaware of it. But he could explain. There's something unique that laid underneath everyone's skins that was just gone the minute they are knowingly staring at a camera, deliberately posing for a photo. Tyler did take pleasure in capturing these natural, unguarded moments here and there. They told a story most times you can't see with a naked eye. 

And the story he's seeing here, as he zooms in on the picture of Alex and Charlie he took seconds after the one they posed for — well, the story he sees here goes way beyond a newfound friendship built during the winter break. Charlie has one arm draped over Alex's shoulders, and the look on his face is so adoring Tyler is left speechless as to how had he not noticed it before. Maybe he had been too quick to assume Charlie didn't know how to keep some things to himself. 

Alex, for his part, seemed disgruntled, but there was a softness around his eyes that gave away he wasn't that upset with Charlie's shenanigans. He had a hand placed against Charlie's chest, clearly in the middle of pushing him away, but Tyler knew him too much not to notice the slight curve of his lips as his eyes locked with Charlie's. If possible, they stood even closer than they were while posing for the original picture — like some outer force brought them together. Like gravitating towards each other was not only natural but also inevitable.

Tyler stared at that picture for longer than he cared to count. He let out a surprised laugh as he realized he was likely catching up to it before Alex and Charlie themselves.

His two friends. His two caring, kind, oblivious friends. Growing feelings for each other right under his nose. Tyler supposed at some level he should feel excluded but he didn't. The way he saw it, there couldn't be a better match. Charlie brought light and color to Alex's otherwise dark world, and Alex's down-to-earth manners tethered Charlie to the ground. They completed each other's blank spaces so perfectly like they had been purposefully crafted for each other. Like they were meant to be.

Tyler sat back, eyes not leaving the picture yet. He absently entertained the thought of which of the two would notice it first. His bets were on Charlie.

* * *

His bets did not take into consideration school would draw them apart when returning from the break.

As he now watches his friends slow-dance after winning Prom Royalty, he figures this was partly why it took them so long to acknowledge their feelings. Tyler believes that if things had remained as they were during winter break, both Alex and Charlie would have been forced to come to terms with liking each other sooner. But that was just his mind wandering through the possibilities. He would never know for sure. What he knew for sure was that Charlie's smile was blinding it was so bright, and that this was the happiest he had seen of Alex all the time he knew him. He wished he had his camera on him now to register it. But he was also happy he could just watch it happen, live and in color, in front of his eyes.

He heard Estela laughing by his side, and imagined his face was probably more dazzled than he cared to acknowledge, but he didn't mind. He was just so happy for his friends. Tyler never thought he would live to see the day Alex Standall would be wearing a crown for winning Prom King. It was so not Alex's cup of tea. But you wouldn't be able to tell he was so averse to big gestures now — or to high school trivialities, or to dancing, even. With his eyes closed and face buried into his boyfriend's shoulder, Alex seemed completely lost in the moment, not a care in the world weighing on top of him now.

Charlie looked like he had just earned the biggest prize of his life, which he probably did — not by winning the small crown he was currently wearing, but by having Alex willingly leaning into his arms. In front of everyone. It spoke volumes of his trust, of how comfortable he was growing with their relationship. Charlie couldn't stop smiling, and Tyler found out it was infectious. He couldn't remember the last time he had a smile on his face for so long.

“You're really happy for them, aren't you?” Asked Estela, looking at him fondly.

Tyler just smiled harder, eyes not leaving the couple slowly turning in the middle of the hall, ignoring everyone else as if the world was made of only the two of them. “Yes,” he answered, voice barely above a whisper. “Yes, I'm so happy for my friends.”

**Author's Note:**

> happy Chalex Week for us all <3 be kind to give me your thoughts on this one!


End file.
